David L. Bradley

David Lynn Bradley was born December 27, 1941 to Eula Johnson Bradley and Marsh Bradley in Fort Scott, Kansas. He grew up in Pleasanton, KS and attended all 12 years in the Pleasanton School system.
He excelled in music, playing the piano and drums and singing. In high school he was the Kansas State Champion in singing and sung at many weddings, church events and funerals. He also loved to dance. His son, David, inherited some of his musical talent as he plays drums, guitar and keyboard.
He graduated with a B.S. Degree in Journalism from the University of Mississippi. While at Ole Miss he was a member of the University Concert Singers, Arnold Air Society, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Sigma Delta Chi Journalism Society. He also played in the Marching band for two years.
After graduation, he was united in marriage to Charlene Strickland on January 3rd, 1965. They were married for 58 years and had two sons, David, Jr and Chris.
He served in the US Air Force for 4 years and received several medals. Among them was the US Air Force Commendation Medal for meritorious achievement as an Information Officer while on duty In Southeast Asia, for the Air Training Command. He was cited for his outstanding professional skill, knowledge and journalism ability. He traveled to many Air Force bases, such as Saigon, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. during the Vietnam War.
After his tour of duty, it was his desire to move back to Kansas and work with his Dad printing the county newspaper. His Dad owned two small-town newspapers, the Pleasanton Observer Enterprise, and the Mound City Republic. Unfortunately, his Dad passed away a few months after moving back. He continued to operate the 2 newspapers and eventually acquired a third paper, the LaCyne Journal. He decided to combine the three local papers and formed the Linn County News.
In the 70's he began printing cookbooks for a company In Kansas City. He felt like that printing Cookbooks would be more profitable than the newspaper, so along with his wife, Charlene, they started a new business named Fundcraft Publishing. Fundcraft printed fundraising cookbooks to help organizations raise money.
Because of his skills in marketing and business the company grew rapidly. So, they decided to relocate to Memphis, TN, as his wife had grown up in that area. While researching and scouting the area he met with the mayor of Collierville, Mayor Cox. Mayor Cox was very persuasive and persuaded the Bradleys to relocate Fundcraft to Collierville, TN a suburb of Memphis. Construction was begun on the building and work was completed in June 1985. Fundcraft has operated in the same building for 38 years.
In 1995 after graduating from Ole Miss, his son, Chris started to work at Fundcraft. With the growth of the internet and cookbooks declining, they decided to go into self-publishing books and created Instant Publisher. This company is still going strong today and there are 3 generations of Bradleys working together at Fundcraft Publishing and Instant Publisher, wife Charlene, son Chris, and grandson Christopher.
Mr. Bradley loved to restore and work on old cars. He and his brother-in-law, Red Strickland, both loved old cars and especially classic cars. They traveled quite often to car auctions and over the years owned several classic cars. They both also shared the love of dancing and loved to go to the Memphis Bob Club.
He was predeceased by his parents and one sister, Beth Hollandsworth. He leaves behind his wife, Charlene, sons David, Jr. and Chris (Nicole) and three grandchildren, Christopher (Jessica), Chance and Madelyn Bradley. He also had three great-grandchildren, Saylor, Huxley and Haze.